


Safe in His Arms

by DarylsBabyGirl



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Daryl In Love, Kissing, M/M, Paul in love, Paul's ninja skills, The Whisperers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 14:37:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16767082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarylsBabyGirl/pseuds/DarylsBabyGirl
Summary: My version of the episode of doom! I didn't watch the episode, so I don't know what all happened, but from gif sets and hearing what others said, this is what I figure happened.





	Safe in His Arms

“Get the damn gate open!” Daryl yelled. He hated standing there doing nothing when Paul was in danger. Michonne and Eugene stood on either side of him and Aaron, also watching with worry and horror. His eyes flicked back and forth from Aaron who was trying to pick the lock on the gate to Paul who was battling twelve plus walkers on his way with nothing but a sword and his fighting skills. He was doing good, but the risk of him being bit or swarmed was too great.

“I’m trying! You yelling at me isn’t helping!” Aaron yelled back. His fingers of his only remaining hand worked furiously. He’d had many lessons from Paul on picking locks, but this was an old lock that had been victim to time and weather. 

Paul was moving fast and graceful, using the walkers as body shields against other walkers. His sword was covered in blood. He’d taken down about half the walkers when he realized they weren’t walkers at all. They were talking, they were moving like they were alive and not dead. “What are you?!” He rasped, breath coming in short. He wasn’t tired. He had so much adrenaline. He’d honestly missed this. He’d hated being stuck in Hilltop and leading the people while Maggie was gone.

“We are Whisperers…”

He heard one say behind him. He flung his elbow back and whirled around, the blade slicing through the person’s neck to cut their head off. Only four more left now. He could hear Daryl yelling at Aaron, fear, and worry in the hunter’s voice. It made his heart swell with affection for the hunter. He couldn’t let it distract him, though, he took out three more “walkers” with quick precision. It was dark and cold out, but he felt more alive now than he had in a long time. He turned to face the final Whisperer, hand gripping his blade tightly.

“You are not where you belong.” The Whisperer said.

“I am exactly where I belong!” Paul yelled and surged forward, twirling the sword in his hand. He swung the blade, but the Whisperer ducked. 

A blade appeared in the Whisperer’s hand and lashed out at Paul’s side. The ninja was faster, jumping to the side and kicking out at the walker’s leg. His foot made contact and the walker fell to his knees but rolled away before Paul could cut his head off. Paul swore softly and sidestepped another slash of the knife at his leg. He could feel Daryl’s eyes on him. He couldn’t die here. 

‘I love you.’

He’d spoken those words to Daryl just last night while everyone else slept around the campfire. Then, the hunter had kissed him. It was a small kiss, unsure, but perfect. It had his heart racing more than any other sexual activity might. The hunter’s lips were dry and chapped and felt good against his own. He wasn’t sure when they’d fallen for each other. Perhaps during the times that Daryl would come to Hilltop for proper rest from the outside world. He would stay in Paul’s trailer with Dog and usually be gone a few days later, back to looking for Rick’s body. Those days when Daryl was around, though, were the best. They talked like they were old friends, share stories of bar fights and times they were arrested. Daryl had been shocked to hear Paul had been arrested on more than one occasion. 

“Dammit! Move!”

Daryl screaming at Aaron brought Paul back to the present. He could hear the hunter’s kicking at the gate with his steel toe boot. He dodged another swipe of the walker’s dagger when he felt someone latch onto his boot. He gasped and looked down. Dead eyes peered up at him from behind what seemed to be a mask. His own eyes widened in shock. He’d killed a person who had become a walker. The walker snarled at him. 

“You can’t get away now.” The Whispered said and lunged forward with his blade. 

Paul growled and used his other foot to stomp on the walker’s head while bringing his sword up to stab into the Whisperer’s head. He grunted, feeling the Whisperer’s blade sink into his side. The gate crashed open and a bolt flew past his head, landing in the Whisperer’s head. The guy in the mask crumbled to the ground, taking Paul’s sword with him. Paul looked down at the knife in his side. It hadn’t gone in completely, but he could feel blood trickling out of the wound. He blinked in surprise. How had the man got close enough to stab him? 

“Paul!” Daryl tossed his crossbow aside and ran to him, catching him before he could hit his knees. “Fuck!” He looked down at the knife in Paul’s side. 

Aaron knelt to the walker’s body. “How… how was a walker able to move like that?”

“Mask…” Paul whispered. He smiled up at Daryl. “Hey… don’t look… like that. I’ll be fine…” He reached his bloody hand up to pet the hunter’s cheek. 

“No way…” Aaron whispered as he pulled the mask off. He held it up for Daryl to see. 

Daryl growled. “Don’t matter now, he’s dead.” He looked back down at Paul. “We gotta get ya ta Hilltop.” He gently lifted the man in his arms. Paul groaned in pain, wrapping his arm around Daryl’s shoulder. Daryl wanted to sob at the pained groan. “‘M sorry…”

Paul smiled at him, skin breaking out in a cold sweat. “I know, baby…” He whispered. “Just… get me home.” 

The hunter nodded and whistled for his dog. The hound barked and followed them to the horses. Daryl would leave his bike for Aaron to take back. He couldn’t safely take the bike without Paul falling off from behind him. He helped Paul on first, then mounted the horse behind him, arms wrapping around him, minding the blade still lodged in his lover’s side. Dog whined up at them. Daryl hadn’t ridden a horse since the Greene farm, but it was like riding a bike in his book. You never forget how to ride. He clicked his tongue, turning the horse away from the graveyard. He kicked the horse and the horse neighed, taking off at a gallop. The dog chased after them, nipping the horse’s heels if it began to slow down. 

It took far too long to reach the Hilltop in Daryl’s opinion. He yelled at them to hurry up and open the damn gate. Paul couldn’t help chuckling weakly. “What… what’ve you… got against gates..?”

Daryl merely grunted at him. “Save yer strength.” He whispered, leading the horse through. Tara and Siddiq ran over, having heard the commotion ‘Paul’s hurt!’ 

“What happened?” Tara helped the doctor carefully pull Jesus down from the horse so Daryl could dismount. She gave Siddiq a chance to eye the blade and see how deep it went in before pulling the ninja’s arm around her shoulder to help carry him. 

“Damn people wearing walkers masks surrounded him! He took them all down, but one got him with a dagger!” Daryl quickly followed after them, telling Dog to stay outside the trailer. He shut the door behind them, watching the two lay Paul down on the bed. Paul’s pained groan broke his heart. He covered his mouth with his hand, rubbing his fingers against the scruff covering his chin and cheeks. 

Siddiq tore Paul’s shirt open more after Tara had removed his armor. “It didn’t go in deep, so that’s a good thing. It’s good you left it in, Daryl, that kept him from bleeding out.” He gently pulled the dagger out. Tara grabbed handfuls of gauze to cover the wound, putting pressure on it while Siddiq threaded up a needle with some suture thread. She kept tossing down blood-soaked gauze and covering the wound up with fresh gauze until the bleeding seemed to stop. Siddiq used a bit of saline to clean off the wound so he could see as he sutured the skin together. “He’ll need to be on bed rest for a while. His bandages will need to be changed once every four hours for the first week, then every six hours and so on. I’m going to put him on antibiotics and pain medication, so make sure he takes those with food and plenty of water. He didn’t lose as much blood as he could of, so he’s better off than he might have been.”

Daryl nodded, listening to every word and committing them to memory. Paul laid still, keeping silent. He hated needles, so he was focusing on staring at Daryl and remembering their kiss. Once Siddiq was done with the suturing, he cleaned the wound again and covered it with gauze. Tara filled a bag with some gauze and a bottle of saline. She handed it over to Daryl, offering him a small smile. She whispered to him that Jesus was fine and he’d done well bringing him back so quickly. Daryl smiled back weakly and nodded, taking the bag. 

Paul sat up slowly, stopping when his head swam. Siddiq steadied him. “Easy, you may not have lost a lot of blood, but you did lose quite a bit.” He helped Paul stand up. “Sorry about your shirt.”

Paul smiled weakly. “It’s fine. I’ll just… steal one of Daryl’s.” He heard the hunter snort and walked over. He leaned on the hunter tiredly.

“C’mon… let's get ya home.” Daryl whispered, wrapping his arm around Paul’s shoulder. The ninja nodded in agreement and let the older man walk him to the door. 

Dog whined and stood up as soon as the door opened. His tail wagged as they carefully came down the steps. Paul’s trailer wasn’t too far off from the medical trailer thankfully. A few people came forward and told Paul they were happy he was alright, but mostly left them alone, possibly due to Daryl glaring at them if they even looked in Paul’s direction. The ninja needed rest and Daryl was going to make sure he got it. He opened the door to Paul’s trailer, helping the man in first. Once the dog was in, he shut the door and led Paul over to his bed. 

“I want to shower…” Paul whispered. “I’m covered in blood, guts, sweat and who knows what else. I feel gross.”

Daryl bit his bottom lip. Siddiq hadn’t said anything about Paul being able to shower or not. He remembered what he had to do when he got in a motorcycle accident a few years before the apocalypse. He went to the kitchen and found a ziplock baggie. He tore it at the seams so he only had one side, the got the top off. He found some tape and knelt in front of the ninja. Paul blinked, watching him cover the gauze with the baggy and tape it to his skin. The hunter stood back up once he was satisfied no water was getting in and tossed the tape aside.

Paul smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.” He made his way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself.

Daryl’s cheeks turned pink from the kiss. He watched Paul go into the bathroom and took guard by the door, listening to make sure the man didn’t fall. Dog laid down in front of the door, nose pressed to the crack underneath and whining softly. After a while, Paul peeked the door open, cheeks flushed from the heat of the water and embarrassment. 

“I forgot a towel and clothes…”

Daryl stared at him. “Ya ain’t usin my vest. It’s leather… it ain’t gonna help ya dry off, much less cover all yer naughty bits.” The smile twitching at his lips told Paul the older man was fucking with him. 

Paul chuckled, laying his head against the door frame. “Daryl…” He whined softly. “Please get me a towel and some clothes.” He smiled, eyes pouting at the hunter.

The older man grinned. “‘N miss out on seein ya naked?” He walked over to the dresser anyways and pulled out some boxers and one of his flannels from his bag he had sitting on the floor next to the dresser. He grabbed a towel out as well and brought them over to the door. “Here ya go, darlin.”

Paul smiled and opened the door up enough to take them. “Thank you.” He closed the door again and managed to get himself dressed. He came out, smiling at Daryl sweetly. “Okay, I’m done.” He let Daryl help him to the bed and lay down. The hunter’s shirt practically swallowed his torso, one shoulder peeking out. He sighed softly as Daryl pulled the plastic from over his gauze. 

“Lemme fix ya somethin ta eat so ya can take yer medicine.” He kissed the ninja’s temple and went back to the kitchen. He managed to find some leftover stew and heat it up. It would be enough for Paul to eat to take his meds. He brought the bowl over with some water. He helped Paul sit up enough to eat maybe half the bowl and drink the water down with his medication. “Get some rest, darlin.” He whispered and started to move away.

Paul whined and grabbed his hand. “Lay with me…” He was starting to feel groggy and emotionally exhausted from the day. He’d nearly died. The fact was starting to hit him and he needed to be near the other man. 

“I will, baby.” He quickly took the bowl to the kitchen and came back. He took his boots and shirt off. He didn’t care if Paul saw his scars. The younger man already knew about them. He took his pants off as well and crawled into the bed under the covers. He cuddled up to the man, kissing his cheek. “‘M here, darlin… ain’t gonna let nothin happen t’ya.” He whispered. Paul whined softly, nuzzling into Daryl’s neck. He lay on his uninjured side since that was how he was most comfortable. Dog jumped up and lay against Paul’s back, whining softly as he got settled. 

Paul hummed. He was warm and tired but felt safe. Daryl’s arms were big and warm. He’d always felt safer when they were around him. “Love you.” He murmured.

Daryl smiled and nuzzled his nose into the ninja’s hair. “I love you…”


End file.
